Article 14Notification mechanism and complaints procedure

1. Member States shall ensure that companies enable persons and entities listed in paragraph 2 to submit complaints to them where those persons or entities have legitimate concerns regarding actual or potential adverse impacts with respect to the companies’ own operations, the operations of their subsidiaries or the operations of their business partners in the chains of activities of the companies.

2. Member States shall ensure that complaints may be submitted by:

(a)

natural or legal persons who are affected or have reasonable grounds to believe that they might be affected by an adverse impact, and the legitimate representatives of such persons on behalf of them, such as civil society organisations and human rights defenders;

(b)

trade unions and other workers’ representatives representing natural persons working in the chain of activities concerned; and

(c)

civil society organisations that are active and experienced in related areas where an adverse environmental impact is the subject matter of the complaint.

3. Member States shall ensure that companies establish a fair, publicly available, accessible, predictable and transparent procedure for dealing with the complaints referred to in paragraph 1, including a procedure where a company considers a complaint to be unfounded, and inform the relevant workers representatives and trade unions of that procedure. Companies shall take reasonably available measures to prevent any form of retaliation by ensuring the confidentiality of the identity of the person or organisation submitting the complaint, in accordance with national law. Where information needs to be shared, it shall be in a manner that does not endanger the complainant’s safety, including by not disclosing that complainant’s identity.

Member States shall ensure that, where the complaint is well-founded, the adverse impact that is the subject matter of the complaint is deemed to be identified within the meaning of Article 8 and the company shall take appropriate measures in accordance with Articles 10, 11 and 12.

4. Member States shall ensure that complainants are entitled to:

(a)

request appropriate follow-up on the complaint from the company with which they have filed a complaint pursuant to paragraph 1;

(b)

The article continues in the official text.